Canberra Confidential / Bonjour, Joy

WITH all due respect, CC can’t entirely point the finger at Joy Burch, but it doesn’t reflect well that some dunce in the Education Minister’s office thought explorer Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse, who landed in Botany Bay the same week as the First Fleet, was Dutch. Like his name wasn’t a clue?

Joy Burch.

They sent the Minister bravely off to unveil a statue of the explorer at the Red Hill shops the other day armed with a press release that says: “La Pérouse was an accomplished early Dutch explorer in command of a French expedition of reconnaissance to the Pacific in 1785”.

The following day the Dutchman became a Frenchman in a straight-faced, uncontrite replacement press release that made no allusions to the previous howler.

Walker not a talker

UNI student Scott Walker, organiser of the “Stick-In” protest at the ANU, clearly got a smack on the nose for his rush of blood in telling the world that: “Students are deeply frustrated by vice-chancellor Ian Young, chancellor Gareth Evans and the University Council’s unanimous support for the deregulation of fees”.

Within a day he was red-faced retracting his statement and wringing his hands over the use of the word “unanimous”.

“This word is likely to mislead readers that the student representatives on the Council, including Student Association president Cameron Wilson, support university fee deregulation. I have not viewed the minutes of that meeting, but I fully accept Mr Wilson’s objection to the statement.” Okay, now, Cam?

Painters go into space

FINALLY, the writing’s on the floor… in February, “CityNews” snapper Gary Schafer fell foul of extremely faded lines and logos marking out disabled car parking spaces beside the Canberra Museum and Gallery on London Circuit. The lush foliage blocking out the signs didn’t help, so he appealed the $200+ fine, providing a few shots to make his point crystal clear.

He beat the rap, but better still the parking poobahs have finally had the painters in – as they should have done – to go over the yellow lines.

AND to get the job done without cars in the way, the road painters blocked off the disabled spaces with witches hats. As CC walked past, one of the bemused tradies pointed out someone without a disabled parking pass had moved the cones, driven right in – and received a fine. And it wasn’t Schafer, either.

Shrugs, conditions apply

WE liked this, the antidote to the free-hugs guy in Garema Place… the Front at Lyneham is offering “free shrugs” with any purchase over $5. Like, whatever.

Silly boys say goodbye

DENDY has already sold out one session to a screening of the live theatre reunion special, “Monty Python Live (Mostly)” from the UK in early August. It will be the Pythons’ absolute last performance together and the last since the Hollywood Bowl in 1980.

“The response to our planned reunion has been very, very silly. But, we’re all touched that so many fans still want to see such old people perform,” says Python John Cleese.

Tickets, at $20, from the Dendy box office or dendy.com.au

What we do to phones

A WEB organisation called Photobucket caught CC’s attention with an email titled “The Earth is Plotting to Destroy Your Phone”. On the basis of urging phone owners to back-up their photos, the Bucketeers reported that 75 per cent of people use their mobile phones on the toilet and 9 per cent drop them in. And, odder still, of alcohol drinkers, 13 per cent drown their phones in beer.

Raising office morale

GOOD to see we have something else over the Kiwis. Apparently Australians are more at ease with admitting to having had sex in the office (38 per cent) than our friends across the ditch (15 per cent). The research of only 115 members of the Berlin-based Elite Singles website revealed that the hotspots for office bonking are conference rooms and personal offices. Reassuringly, only 3 per cent of women (19 per cent of men) see the photocopier as an attractive proposition.